THE regular season might be done and dusted, but there's still plenty to play for in Albury-Wodonga's hockey circles.
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Now in its fourth year, Hockey Albury-Wodonga's Charity Hockey 8's tournament was launched last night.
Since 2012, the high-quality competition has attracted some of the country's best, as well as allowing some of the region's best to showcase their skills.
The popular series has raised over $50,000 for different charities since its inception, including Hilltop Carers Accommodation and Give me Five for Kids.
Foodshare is the charity of choice this year, with money raised to go towards rescuing unwanted food to be given to those in need.
Australian and Olympic representatives George Bazeley, Emily Hurtz and Stacia Joseph will travel to Albury for the three-week series in October, but some of the best home-grown players are also set to make an appearance.
Rising goalkeeper Ben Hooppell will return to the Border to play, as will former Corowa-Rutherglen United champion Sam McIntosh.
With eight teams of the region's best ready to take the field, organiser Angie Hooppell said there was a two-fold goal to the tournament.
“We started the tournament to promote hockey as a sport locally,” Hooppell said.
“But fairly quickly we realised we had an opportunity to give back to the community that had supported us over the years as well.”
This was no mickey mouse post-season knockabout, Hooppell warned.
“This is a top-flight tournament,” she said.
“The standard would be similar to the division one competitions in the regular season, and maybe even a little bit higher.
“The Australian players we've had play in the previous years have all wanted to come back because they were so impressed with the calibre of the competition.
“It's a very popular format and a fairly up-tempo style of play with only eight players taking the field for each team.
Hooppell also said the competition was a great way for current Hockey Albury-Wodonga players to develop their game by playing alongside their regular season opponents.
“No-one knew which teams they would be playing in until last night,” she said.
“It allows the players to learn a little bit about themselves when they’re playing with their regular opponents.”
